Civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced Wednesday at a Fort Lauderdale press conference he is filing a lawsuit against the City of Hollywood and police officers involved in the 2021 shooting of Michael Ortiz.

In July 2021, Ortiz called 911 saying he had taken drugs and was suffering a mental health emergency brought on by losing his dog, according to reports. When Hollywood police arrived, they restrained him, placed him on the ground, tased him, and shot him in the back while he was naked and unarmed.

The police shooting left Ortiz wheelchair-bound and paralyzed from the waist down. A spokesperson for the Hollywood Police Department said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

Crump had sued the Hollywood Police Department last year for access to surveillance video of the shooting. He said the contents of the body cam footage, which has not yet been released to the general public, is the clearest evidence that the use of force was unnecessary and that police acted against use-of-force protocol. “Michael Ortiz needed a helping hand, but what he got was a bullet to the back,” Crump said.

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